Tough Tasks Ahead to Make 2027 Godavari Pushkaralu Safe

Vijayawada: As the Andhra Pradesh government is preparing to conduct Godavari Pushkaralu from June 26, 2027 to July 7, 2027 in an immaculate manner to ensure safety and pleasant experience for the nearly 10 crore devotees expected, it appears an uphill task.

Rajamahendravaram is the main venue for hosting the event, for which an expenditure of ₹3,000 crore has been allocated. But the city appears unprepared yet in making the mammoth preparations required to make Pushkaralu safe and pleasant.

Rajamahendravaram, which is the cultural capital of AP, has already gone through the bitter experience of 29 devotees losing their lives on the inaugural day of Godavari Maha Pushkaralu organised earlier in July 2015.

Since 2015, the city’s population of around 3.75 lakh has gone up to over 5.70 lakh. However, despite the drastic rise in the size of population, Rajamahendravaram has not seen much improvement in infrastructure, except for the recent development of bathing ghats, which have only replaced the already existing ones.

The NDA government led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu intends to invite devotees from across the globe to make the 2027 Godavari Pushkaralu a memorable event. But his enthusiasm has not found any reflection within authorities of the erstwhile Godavari districts.

The existing situation is that all main thoroughfares leading to the bathing ghats along the Godavari River, whether from the bus or railway stations, are choked to capacity. There is no space for devotees to walk either on the roads or on footpaths. The government has spent a considerable amount of money to beautify the footpaths with polished tiles. But the city authorities are unable to keep these footpaths free of private vendors, who pay regularly to local politicians, for using these spaces.

Certain encroachments of these footpaths from Lala Cheruvu towards the Pushkar ghat involve permanent structures. Only the demolition of these structures and relaying of the footpaths will make them usable by devotees in 2027.Senior advocate Muppala Subba Rao said, “We lost 29 devotees on the inaugural day of Godavari Pushkaralu in July 2015 only because we allowed thousands of devotees to gather at a small place for a holy dip in the river during the auspicious hours. The situation will be the same now at the Pushkar ghats, unless devotees are dispersed further along the course of the river. Otherwise, it will be difficult to control the crowds.”Local residents too feel that the state government should not allow devotees to gather devotees at certain ghats, but disperse them all along the river course. The government can use state-of-the-art technology for surveillance in this regard. But there is also the need for expansion of roads, bathing ghats and choultries, apart from bus and railway stations, so that devotees can come and take part in the mega cultural fete.Telugu film distributor Challa Sankara Rao said, “Given the experience of recent stampede deaths at Tirupati and Srikakulam, the state government has made good arrangements, as witnessed during the Mukkoti Ekadasi at Tirumala. We expect similar preparations for the Godavari Pushkaralu.”